I am a new user to Starry Night and have just got my first (second hand) telescope. I have Starry Night Pro 8 and a Celestron Nexstar 6 and I would like to control the telescope from my computer (a Mac running Mac os 10.14.4 Mojave).
With the 'scope I got a serial 9 pin D connector. Do I simply buy a serial to USB cable, or is it more complicated than this (I suspect it is).
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Jonathan
Hi Jon,
Confirm that the Serial-to-RS232 cable you have plugs into the bottom of the Nexstar hand controller.
Buy a Serial-to-USB cable and your should be good to go. Note, this must have a driver specifically written for macOS Mojave. Not all Serial-to-USB cables are the same. If it is not marketed as specifically for Mojave, or you can not confirm via reviews, then look for a different one.
Setup as follows...
Macbook + Starry Night Pro 8 >>> USB-to-Serial >>> Serial-to-RS232 cable >>> Nexstar Hand Controller.
Turn everything on...
Align your scope using the hand controller.
In Starry Night Pro 8 > Telescope Setup > Choose:
Enjoy stargazing!
Keiron - many, many thanks.
Looking at the specs for the cables, I may have trouble getting a driver for Mojave. So I've ordered one and I will download the very latest driver and if that doesn't work I will install an earlier version of Mac OS that is compatible.
Thanks once again
Jonathan
Please do not install a previous version of macOS. There are absolutely Mojave compatible USB-to-Serial drivers + cables on the market.
Check with me if you really can't find one.
Keiron - OS Downgrade not needed :) Got the latest drivers from the manufacturer and they work perfectly with Mojave.
Regards
Jonathan
An excellent result, Jonathan! Enjoy and clear skies!